My trip across 403, 401, 427, Gardiner and Queen's. | GTAMotorcycle.com

My trip across 403, 401, 427, Gardiner and Queen's.

hymnz

hymnz

Well-known member
Forum Sponsor
Riding is an activity that clears my head when I have a rough day at work. Today was such a day and I decided to take a longer route. The plan was to get on to 403 at Hurantario then get on to 401 to 427, shop some at Ikea, get on to Gardiner and Queen's and get home. It's not the first time I have done this route, but it was the first time I was on 427 during the rush hour and my God! Drivers and truckers are crazy! It was like everyone was playing bumping cars and trying to avoid each other at the last moment. Not to mention the lady in Telsa casually sliding into my lane without signalling. She gave me a stare when I honked. Don't know why she was entering the right exit lane when she wanted to take the left exit.

Anywho.. One of the things I'm not able to get a grip on is this stretch on Gardiner leading to Queen's. There are 8 places where two slabs of the road are joined and it creates a mini-bump. Every time I go on them, my heart skips a beat for a second. Any tips for this stretch? I also find these bumps on the 401 between Dixie and Dixon. I hit them when I least expect them.

1715660202985.png
 
Last edited:
hymnz said:
Riding is an activity that clears my head when I have a rough day at work.

Any tips for this stretch?
Click to expand...

This is the ride that clears your head? What do you do for a living? Defuse bombs?

Your trip overall, and the highlighted part, are some of the most terrible roads in the province. I don't think anybody would drive or ride these roads for any purpose other than to just get somewhere else. I don't ride in the city at all, maybe others can point you to relatively speaking nicer, calmer roads.

I live on the Mississauga / Oakville border and, if I ride at all here, I head west. In about 15 minutes I'm on a relatively quiet side road. 90% of my riding is done in the U.S. or in the Kawarthas due to poor roads in the GTA and crazy or incompetent drivers.
 
I can see the QEW to the DVP being relatively enjoyable at night when traffic is down…any other time it’s the antithesis of calming one’s mind.

I’m in central Mississauga and go west if I want to clear my mind, or north. Much better and safer (outside of Brampton).

Next time go on the QEW to Brant (last exit before branching to Hamilton and Niagara). Go north, then run the roads there making your way eastbound.

Much better.
 
I would never choose to be on any of the major highways around the GTA. Sure they are great to test your skills and mental agility, but not for any kind of pleasure riding.

Curious why do you keep choosing these kinds of routes?
 
Ok. Ok. I think I might have used clearing my head in the wrong sense. It's like this. If I'm having a ****** day at work, I just can't stop the chain of thought about it. Putting myself in a situation where I can't think of anything else than the job at hand is the only way. So yes, a ride where I have no scope for distraction helps. That's what I mean by clears my head. 😭
 
sburns said:
I would never choose to be on any of the major highways around the GTA. Sure they are great to test your skills and mental agility, but not for any kind of pleasure riding.

Curious why do you keep choosing these kinds of routes?
Click to expand...
It is primarily for better navigation sense. I have to go to a new place which takes me through Mississauga or the Peel Region, using a navigator or the road signs is a PIA. High-speed roads with poorly placed roadsigns make me miss a turn or two almost always. Plus if I'm doing a 70-80 on the roads where one can randomly turn left or brake or pull out, I might as well take chances with a 100 road where I only have to worry about someone coming into my lane.

I always take the inroads when it comes to main Toronto though, unless I'm going all through it to the East.

From all the news I've been seeing in the last year and a half, there have been more incidents with motorcycles in the inroads of Peel region than the highway sections. (However, it could be that motorcyclists avoid the highways and are only found on the inroads.)
 
hymnz said:
There are 8 places where two slabs of the road are joined and it creates a mini-bump. Every time I go on them, my heart skips a beat for a second. Any tips for this stretch? I also find these bumps on the 401 between Dixie and Dixon. I hit them when I least expect them.
Click to expand...

I ride these all the time coming back from Toronto to Mississauga. They are fun, but also scary if you're not prepared. The simplest way to navigate the bumps is to get on your feet and off the seat a little bit, let your legs absorb the bump and let the bike go over them with a relaxed grip on the handle bars. You want to be off the seat enough so the seat doesn't hit your ass while going over the bump.
 
matthew said:
If you want to hate riding, commute along 400 series highways every day.
Click to expand...
40-50 minutes every day for about a year (minus the winter season and heavy rain days) .. to and from work .. you become numb to it after a certain time 😐
 
hymnz said:
From all the news I've been seeing in the last year and a half, there have been more incidents with motorcycles in the inroads of Peel region than the highway sections. (However, it could be that motorcyclists avoid the highways and are only found on the inroads.)
Click to expand...

IMHO, based on my observations over many years, there are more back road / side road issues in Peel (and lots of other places too) because people ride them faster then their skill level or assume the roads (especially in corners) are always free of sand, loose gravel and other crap. You're way more likely to find someone who ran wide in a corner in the boonies than anywhere else. So ride within your skill set and you'll be fine.
 
Just so that everyone knows, this is my joy ride region. I take the bike out on some Sunday mornings and simply roam around in this area. Find a local place to have brunch and head back and cool off with a nice wheat beer. I am a sane person most of the times. 😊

1715703294459.png
 
matthew said:
If you want to hate riding, commute along 400 series highways every day.
Click to expand...
This made me hate riding so much I sold my motorcycle...although it was the CB500F and the Rebel 500...so that could have been part of it.

I have yet to commute on the X or Scrambler, but want to take it to Scarborough soon.
 
mimico_polak said:
I can see the QEW to the DVP being relatively enjoyable at night when traffic is down…any other time it’s the antithesis of calming one’s mind.

I’m in central Mississauga and go west if I want to clear my mind, or north. Much better and safer (outside of Brampton).

Next time go on the QEW to Brant (last exit before branching to Hamilton and Niagara). Go north, then run the roads there making your way eastbound.

Much better.
Click to expand...
Gardiner through downtown at night is fun, elevated and going past all the city lights, billboards, skydome, etc.
Was better before they removed the east end ramps.
 
Wind Shear said:
Gardiner through downtown at night is fun, elevated and going past all the city lights, billboards, skydome, etc.
Was better before they removed the east end ramps.
Click to expand...
It's an awesome drive with all the lights, then bomb up the DVP to the 401...loop around and come back down the other way. Fun drive, with nice lights everywhere.

Unfortunately with the current closures of lanes downtown...may not be as much fun. Plus way more idiots than when I first started riding.
 
mimico_polak said:
It's an awesome drive with all the lights, then bomb up the DVP to the 401...loop around and come back down the other way. Fun drive, with nice lights everywhere.

Unfortunately with the current closures of lanes downtown...may not be as much fun. Plus way more idiots than when I first started riding.
Click to expand...
When was the last time you could do that without encountering at least one traffic jam?

The last time I drove out of the city the gardiner, DVP, and 401 across the top were stop and go for long stretches and that was between 11:30 and midnight.
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom